The Fog


release year: 2005
genre: horror remake
viewing setting: home DVD, 1/30/06

synopsis: A town with a century-old secret suffers revenge at the hand of fog-borne ghosts.

impressions: This was decent, with a few things done better than the 1980 original, but overall, it was inferior. Good points: it did a better job of explaining the reasons behind the revenge, better special effects. Bad points: sillier situations (like the girl's underwater "fight" with a net and some seaweed, and the twist at the end with that same girl), logic problems (someone was allowed to live when they clearly should have died, inconsistent behavior of fog when stalking victims.) The original movie has ghosts, with sharp weapons, who stabbed or slashed victims. This has things like people being thrown through windows and doors, and knives floating up and then shooting toward someone's eye, and people suddenly bursting into flame. I can appreciate that the filmakers tried to add some new twists while still being faithful to the original, but the bottom line is that the original movie was a classic, and did not need a remake.

things to watch for: An old babysitter woman meeting a rotten hand from the garbage disposal...and then suddenly igniting and burning into a charred corpse. Wicked.

something this movie has that no other movie has: A strange old geezer who pulls on a rope he find on the beach...and ends up getting entangled in it and pulled into the water.

acting: Tom Welling is the main guy, central to the story. Maggie Grace is his old flame who sees things no one else can see. Selma Blair is the DJ with the little son.

final word: Good try, but remaking a movie that was great the first time is a losing proposition.

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